High pressure regulator

ABSTRACT

A valve-regulator assembly for rendering a high pressure gas source compatible with lower pressure equipment, said valve-regulator being sealable or remote from the high pressure gas source enabling recharging at high pressure.

This application is a division of prior U.S. application Ser. No.098,997, filed Sept. 21, 1987, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,111 issued July4, 1989.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to the field of gas pressure regulationand, in particular, is an improvement for rendering a high pressure gassource compatible with a lower pressure use point.

BACKGROUND ART

A recent very significant advancement in the field of gas storagevessels, such as gas cylinders, is the high strength steel cylinderdeveloped by Union Carbide Corporation and described and claimed in U.S.Pat. No. 4,461,657--Rana et al. and U. S. Pat. No. 4,578,113--Rana etal. This new gas storage cylinder enables the storage and transport ofsignificantly more gas than is possible in a conventional cylinder ofcomparable size and weight because the gas can be safely maintainedwithin the new gas storage cylinder at a pressure much higher than thatpossible with such conventional cylinders. For example, whereas aconventional cylinder may safely hold gas at a pressure up to about 2700psia, the new high pressure gas storage cylinder may safely hold gas ata pressure up to about 4500 psia.

Gas is used at a use point at a defined pressure or pressure range.Generally this use pressure is less than the pressure of the gas source.In such cases a pressure regulator is employed to cause a reduction inthe gas pressure and to ensure that the pressure of the gas going to theuse point does not exceed the allowable use point pressure limit.Accordingly, many users of gases have regulators which can regulate thepressure of gas from about 2700 psia down to the desired use pointpressure.

As previously discussed, the new gas storage cylinder provides gas at apressure significantly in excess of the conventional pressures and thusat a pressure greater than that which can be handled by conventionalregulators. One solution is to change the regulator to one which canhandle the higher pressures. However, this solution is costly and may betime consuming if a user switches frequently from one as source toanother because the user may also have to be switching regulators.

It is thus desirable to have a regulator which can regulate highpressure as, such as from the new high strength cylinder, forinterfacing with existing pressure regulators designed to handle gas atlower pressures.

Once the new high strength gas storage cylinder is empty of gas it mustbe refilled. In order to retain the advantages of the high strengthcylinder it must be recharged at the high pressure. Thus it is furtherdesirable to have a high pressure regulator which will also allowrefilling of the cylinder at high pressure.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a regulatorcapable of rendering a high pressure gas source compatible with a lowerpressure use point while also enabling recharging of the high pressuregas source to a high pressure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above and other objects which will become apparent to one skilled inthe art upon a reading of this disclosure are attained by the presentinvention, one aspect of which is:

A valve regulator assembly for rendering a high pressure gas sourcecompatible with a lower pressure use point comprising:

(A) a valve body having main conduit means capable of flow communicationwith a high pressure source;

(B) a high pressure outlet in direct flow communication with said mainconduit means;

(C) a regulator in direct flow communication with said main conduitmeans;

(D) a lower pressure outlet in flow communication with said main conduitmeans downstream of said regulator; and

(E) a lower pressure burst disc assembly communicating between the lowerpressure outlet and the outside of the valve body.

Another aspect of the present invention is:

A valve-regulator assembly for rendering a high pressure gas sourcecompatible with a lower pressure use point comprising:

(A) a valve body having main conduit means capable of flow communicationwith a high pressure gas source;

(B) a regulator in direct flow communication with said main conduitmeans, said regulator comprising a spring-loaded piston, a sensingchamber at one end of the piston, and a sealing plug at the other end ofthe piston, said plug capable of stopping gas flow from the main conduitmeans;

(C) a lower pressure outlet in flow communication with said main conduitmeans downstream of said regulator;

(D) conduit means communicating between the lower pressure outlet andthe sensing chamber;

(E) a lower pressure burst disc assembly communicating between the lowerpressure outlet and the outside of the valve body; and

(F) closure means capable of moving the regulator into a fixed positionso that said plug stops gas flow from the main conduit means.

Still another aspect of the present invention is:

A regulator assembly for rendering a high pressure gas source compatiblewith a lower pressure use point comprising:

(A) a regulator body having a receiving conduit;

(B) a regulator within said regulator body in flow communication withsaid receiving conduit, said regulator comprising a spring-loadedpiston, a sensing chamber at one end of the piston, and a sealing plugat the other end of the piston, said sealing plug capable of stoppinggas flow from the receiving conduit;

(C) a lower pressure outlet in flow communication with said receivingconduit downstream of said regulator and passage means capable ofcommunicating between the lower pressure outlet and the sensing chamber;

(D) passage means communicating between the spring area and the outsideof the regulator body; and

(E) a lower pressure burst disc assembly communicating between the lowerpressure outlet and the outside of the regulator body.

As used herein, the term "high pressure" means a pressure in excess of2700 psia.

As used herein, the term "lower pressure" means a pressure less than aparticular defined high pressure.

As used herein, the term "downstream" means further removed from thehigh pressure gas source with respect to gas flow from the high pressuregas source.

As used herein, the term "use point" means the point, or interface,where lower pressure equipment receives gas from the lower pressureoutlet of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top or plan cross-sectional view of one embodiment of theinvention whereby gas may pass out of a cylinder either at a highpressure or at a lower pressure and the cylinder may be refilled at highpressure through the high pressure outlet.

FIG. 2A is a side or elevation cross-sectional view of anotherembodiment of the invention whereby gas may pass out of a cylinder at alower pressure and the cylinder may be refilled at high pressure throughthe lower pressure outlet by use of the plug shown in cross section inFIG. 2B.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the inventionwhereby high pressure gas is regulated to a lower pressure. Since theinvention is employed remote from a gas cylinder, it enables refillingof the gas cylinder at high pressure.

FIG. 4 is a simplified cross-sectional view of a gas storage cylinder oftypical design.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will be described in detail with reference to theDrawings.

Referring now to FIG. 1, valve-regulator assembly 20 comprises valvebody 21 having main conduit 22 capable of flow communication with a highpressure source. For example, when the high pressure source is a gasstorage cylinder, such as is depicted in FIG. 4, assembly 20 would fiton top of the cylinder and gas from the cylinder would pass through theneck of the cylinder into main conduit 22. As previously mentioned, FIG.1 is a top cross-sectional view of assembly 20.

High pressure outlet 23 is in direct flow communication with mainconduit 22. In this way gas at high pressure may flow through outlet 23,through main conduit 22, and for, example, into the cylinder so as torecharge the cylinder at high pressure. In addition, high pressure asfrom the cylinder may flow through main conduit 22 and through highpressure outlet 23 so as to deliver gas at high pressure should suchhigh pressure delivery be desired.

Also in direct flow communication with main conduit 22 is regulator 24.Preferably regulator 24 comprises piston 25 loaded by spring or springs26. Sensing chamber 27 is at one end of piston 25 and sealing plug 28 isat the other end. Passage 29 communicates between sensing chamber 27 andlow pressure outlet 30, which is in flow communication with main conduitmeans 22 and downstream of regulator 24. Lower pressure burst discassembly 31 communicates between lower pressure outlet 30 and theoutside of valve body 21. The burst disc assembly comprises a burst discwith gasket which are sealed in place by a threaded plug having an opencenter to complete a properly sized passage for relief flow if and whenthe disc bursts due to overpressure.

Regulator 24 is set to lock at a predetermined desired pressure byprocedures, such as adjusting the compression on springs 26, well knownto those skilled in the art. For example, in the case where the highpressure gas is at 4500 psia and the use point equipment at theinterface can handle gas at a maximum pressure of 3000 psia, regulator24 would be set to lock at a lower pressure, such as 2000 psia, thusensuring that gas exceeding the use point maximum pressure is notdelivered. This occurs as follows. With high pressure outlet 23 pluggedoff, gas flows from the high pressure source through main conduit 22 andlower pressure outlet 30, and then on to a lower pressure use point. Aconventional stepdown regulator may be upstream of the lower pressureuse point to further reduce the pressure. The pressure of the gas withinlower pressure outlet 30 will depend on the rate at which the use pointis using the gas. Should the pressure in lower pressure outlet 30 riseto the 2000 psia of this example, gas flowing through conduit 29 willdeliver this pressure to sensing chamber 27 causing spring-loaded piston25 to move sealing plug 28 into position blocking off the passage frommain conduit 22 so as to stop gas flow. When the pressure in lowerpressure conduit 30 decreases below the setpoint, i.e. below 2000 psia,piston 25 moves back and gas flow is resumed.

In this way the use point sees gas at only conventional pressures andnot at the high pressure of the high pressure source. Because of thehigh pressures involved, two precautions are built into the assembly.Burst disc assembly 31 serves to ensure that should regulator 24 fail,high pressure gas will be released through the burst disc assembly andthus not cause harm downstream. In addition, the chamber for springs 26is vented to the outside of valve body 21 through passage 32 thusensuring that should high pressure gas pass by the O-ring seals oneither side of springs 26, such gas will be vented out of the assemblyand not cause spring malfunction leading to regulator malfunction.

In the case where gas flow is desired through high pressure outlet 23,lower pressure outlet 30 is blocked off by an appropriate plug.

If high pressure gas delivery capability is not desired, the embodimentof the invention illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B may be more appropriate.Referring now to FIGS. 2A and 2B, valve-regulator assembly 40 comprisesvalve body 41 having main conduit 42 capable of flow communication witha high pressure source such as the gas storage cylinder depicted in FIG.4. As previously mentioned, FIG. 2A is a side cross-sectional view ofassembly 40.

In direct flow communication with main conduit 42 is regulator 44 whichcomprises piston 45 loaded by springs 46. Sensing chamber 47 is at oneend of piston 45 and sealing plug 48 is at the other end. Conduit 49communicates between sensing chamber 47 and low pressure outlet conduit50, which is in flow communication with main conduit 42 and downstreamof regulator 44. Lower pressure burst disc assembly 51 communicatesbetween lower pressure outlet 50 and the outside of valve body 41.

Regulator 44 regulates the flow of gas from the high pressure sourcethrough the main conduit and into the lower pressure conduit insubstantially the same manner as does regulator 24 described withreference to FIG. 1. In the case of valve-regulator assembly 40, asflows from the high pressure source through main conduit 42 and lowerpressure outlet 50, and then on to a lower pressure use point. Aconventional stepdown regulator may be upstream of the lower pressureuse point to further reduce the pressure. The pressure of the gas withinlower pressure outlet 50 will depend on the rate at which the use pointis using the gas. Should the pressure in lower pressure outlet 50 riseto the desired setpoint, gas flowing through conduit 49 will deliverthis pressure to sensing chamber 47 causing spring-loaded piston 45 tomove sealing plug 48 into position blocking of main conduit 42 so as tostop gas flow. When the pressure in lower pressure outlet conduit 50decreases below the setpoint, piston 45 moves back and gas flow isresumed.

In this way the use point sees gas at only conventional pressures andnot at the high pressure of the high pressure source. Because of thehigh pressures involved, two precautions are built into the assembly.Burst disc assembly 51 serves to ensure that should regulator 44 fail,high pressure gas will be released through the burst disc assembly andthus not cause harm downstream. In addition, the chamber for springs 46is vented to the outside of valve body 41 through passage 52. Thusshould high pressure gas pass by the O-ring seals on either side ofspring 46, such gas will be vented out of the assembly and not causespring malfunction leading to regulator malfunction.

When refilling of the high pressure gas source, e.g. a high pressurecylinder, is desired, plug 53 is inserted into lower pressure outlet 50.Plug 53 conforms to the shape of lower pressure outlet 50 so as to fitsnugly therein. Plug 53 has a passage 54 therethrough enabling thepassage of gas from outside assembly 40 into main conduit 42. Inaddition plug 53 has a seal around the forward end such that therespective points where passage 49 and burst disc assembly 51communicate with lower pressure outlet 50 are both downstream of theseal when plug 53 is in position. The embodiment of FIG. 2B illustratesthe seal, an O-ring 55 and with backup ring 56.

When cylinder recharge at high pressure is desired, plug 53 is threadedin position in outlet 50 and high pressure as is passed into passage 54,through main conduit 42 and into the high pressure gas storage cylinder.Since conduit 49 is blocked off by plug 53, a low pressure, generallyambient, is applied to sensing chamber 47. Accordingly, regulator 44remains in the unlocked position and gas freely passes without blockageby sealing plug 48. Seal 55 and 56 serves to ensure that no highpressure as leakage occurs to either cause regulator 44 to lock or causethe burst disc to burst.

A major advantage of the valve-regulator embodiment of the inventionillustrated in FIG. 2A is the capability of completely shutting off flowfrom the main conduit independent of the regulator function. Thiscapability is provided by a closure means which moves the regulator intoa fixed position sealing off gas flow from the main conduit withoutregard to the gas pressure otherwise acting on the regulator. FIG. 2Aillustrates a closure means comprising diaphragm 60, which is capable ofcontacting piston 45, and a bearing pad 61 on the other side of thediaphragm from the piston. Threaded stem 62 may be moved into position,such as by turning hardwheel 63, so as to apply pressure onto bearingpad 61, diaphragm 60 and piston 45. This causes the regulator to bemoved into a fixed position so that sealing plug 48 stops gas flow frommain conduit 42. This enables complete shut-off of high pressure gaswithout the need to employ high pressure gas to seal the main conduit,and thus the use flexibility of the valve-regulator assembly of theinvention is enhanced.

Both of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1 and inFIGS. 2A and 2B are of a valve-regulator assembly designed to fit on ahigh pressure gas source, such as a gas storage cylinder, which willenable gas discharge from the cylinder at a regulated lower pressure andalso enable recharge of the gas storage cylinder at high pressure.Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 3. Thisembodiment enables regulation of high pressure gas to a lower pressureremote from a high pressure gas source. Thus the gas storage cylinder,having a conventional valve, may be recharged by conventional means.

Referring now to FIG. 3, regulator assembly 60 comprises regulator body61 within which is housed regulator 64 and receiving conduit 62 which iscapable of receiving gas from a high pressure gas source such as aconduit from a high pressure gas storage cylinder. Regulator 64comprises piston 65 loaded by springs 66. Sensing chamber 67 is at oneend of piston 65 and sealing plug 68 is at the other end. Passage 69permits gas flow between receiving conduit 62 and sensing chamber 67 andlow pressure outlet 70 downstream of regulator 64. Lower pressure burstdisc 71 communicates between lower pressure outlet 70 and the outside ofregulator body 61.

Regulator 64 regulates the flow of gas from the high pressure sourcethrough receiving conduit 62 and into the lower pressure conduit insubstantially the same manner as do regulators 24 and 44 described withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2A respectively. In the case of regulatorassembly 60, however, gas flows from the high pressure source throughreceiving conduit 62, through passage 69, and through lower pressureoutlet 70, and then on to a lower pressure use point. At the interface,a conventional stepdown regulator, upstream of the use point may furtherreduce the pressure. The pressure of the gas within lower pressureoutlet 70 will depend on the rate at which the use point is using thegas. Should the pressure in lower pressure outlet 70 rise above thedesired setpoint, gas pressure in the sensing chamber 67 causesspring-loaded piston 65 to move sealing plug 68 into position blockingoff receiving conduit 62 so as to stop gas flow. When the pressure inlower pressure outlet 70 decreases below the setpoint, piston 65 movesback and gas flow is resumed.

In this way the use point sees gas at only conventional pressures andnot at the high pressure of the high pressure source. Because of thehigh pressures involved, two precautions are built into the assembly.Burst disc assembly 71 serves to ensure that should regulator 64 fail,high pressure gas will be released through the burst disc assembly andthus not cause harm downstream. In addition, the chamber for springs 66is vented to the outside of regulator body 61 through passage 72. Thusshould high pressure as pass the O-ring seals on either side of springs66, such gas will be vented out of the assembly and not cause springmalfunction leading to regulator malfunction.

Now by the use of the present invention, one can advantageously employ ahigh pressure gas source, such as the new high pressure gas storagecylinder, while delivering gas to a use point safely at a lower pressurecompatible with the equipment at the interface. Furthermore theinvention enables recharging of the gas source, such as the gascylinder, at the high pressure.

Although the invention has been described in detail with reference tothree particular embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognizethat there are other embodiments of the invention within the spirit andscope of the claims.

We claim:
 1. A regulator assembly for rendering a high pressure gassource compatible with a lower pressure use point comprising:(A) aregulator body having a receiving conduit; (B) a regulator within saidregulator body in flow communication with said receiving conduit, saidregulator comprising a spring-loaded piston, a sensing chamber at oneend of the piston, and a sealing plug at the other end of the piston,said sealing plug capable of stopping gas flow from the receivingconduit; (C) a lower pressure outlet in flow communication with saidreceiving conduit downstream of said regulator and a first passage meanswithin the piston, said first passage means capable of permitting gasflow between the receiving conduit, the lower pressure outlet and thesensing chamber; (D) second passage means communicating between thespring area and the outside of the regulator body; and (E) a lowerpressure burst disc assembly communicating between the lower pressureoutlet and the outside of the regulator body.
 2. The assembly of claim 1wherein the spring area is isolated on either side by O-ring sealsconcentric with the piston.